Prospective buyers, take note of Oct. 1

On Oct. 1, new regulations passed as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery take effect. Homeowners will benefit from much of the legislation, but two provisions will make it more difficult to buy a home.

Minimum down payments on mortgages insured by FHA will increase from 3 to 3.5 percent. Also, down payment assistance programs from national charities such as AmeriDream and Nehemiah will disappear.

So if you’re ready to buy, think about completing the deal by Oct. 1. But don’t rush into anything, either, cautions Mike Larson, a housing analyst with Weiss Research in Jupiter.

After all, Larson said, the increase in the down payment requirement will help prevent people from buying homes they ultimately can’t afford. That happened too often during the go-go days of 2000 to 2005 and is a big reason why the housing market is struggling so much now.